Naruto: War of Wills
by theGhostflyer
Summary: In the 23rd Century, Humanity expanded into the stars. Peace was all they knew. Until a rogue scientist, Orochimaru left Alliance space and returned six years later at the head of the Oto Empire. Now, three years later, the Alliance mobilizes to free the newest conquest of Oto to free their people. Kilo Platoon will now find a bitter enemy and a desperate battle for survival.
1. Chapter 1

Well, its been a long time since I wrote a fanfiction story. I had lost interest in fanfic, but now it's returned with a passion. So I decided on a AU/Sci Fi Naruto Fanfiction. The armor described later on in this opening chapter is pretty much the Armor worn by the troopers in Starship Troopers Invasion. It was pretty bad ass looking. Now, this is futuristic and background information will follow in later chapters, but I want to start with a bit of action first. So on to the story and please review!

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><p>"Alright everyone. Listen up!" The gruff voice sounded easily through the troop bay. "Our mission is simple. Oto has gained control of Hayden. What we know of before coms went dark are that civies are being rounded up and taken to holding areas while Oto rapes the planet of it's resources." Major Jiraiya Namikaze explained to the assembled Marines, Soldiers, and Sailors of the Grand Alliance. "Unfortunately, the boots we did have on the ground have been routed. We don't know if their alive, but the odds aren't pretty. Our concern however, is kicking Oto right off the planet they decided to help themselves to."<p>

Nearest to him, Kilo platoon frowned, but otherwise didn't let it phase them. They knew how viscous Oto could be. In the first engagement of the War, most of Kilo platoon, save 12th squad, were wiped out. Every-time High command had reinforced with new members, they never survived as it seemed Oto had a vested interest in that particular platoon. Jiraiya continued on with the brief.

"So here's the game plan boys and girls. Alpha through Delta will be hitting the planetary communications station. We knock that out, Oto won't know what happened until after we've retaken the planet. Echo, Foxtrot, and Hotel platoons will take the primary and secondary power plants. Cut the power, they lose most of their automated defenses." Jiraiya explained before he looked to Kilo. "That leaves you guys. We need you to hit the Anti orbital batteries they've set up around the capital city of Diaze. Knock those down, and the rest our of forces will drop in and take the rest of the city. Any questions?" He looked around and saw not one questioning look. He nodded and snapped off a crisp salute. "Very well. To your stations."

The military men and women suddenly moved in a flurry of motion, rushing to the armory and prepared for their combat drops. Kilo platoon hurried to their own bay. Each Marine stepped into their assigned armor berth and spread their arms wide. The machines engaged and began piecing the armor onto them. The first layer placed on to their interface suits was the armor's skeleton. Hydraulic servos and control interfaces were mounted at key points of the suit. The purpose of the servos were to not only enhance the wearers strength and speed, but to allow them use the heavy armor of the suit. Next, was the double fist sized fusion power cell that was mounted directly between the shoulder blades. The final components added on were the titanium armor plates painted in the distinct Marine Digital green that was well known throughout the galaxy. The chest plates, three inches thick with an ablative coating were locked into place as the rest of the armor was locked into place. Once the Marines were finished,, they looked like a futuristic Knights. Kilo platoon stepped out of the berths and as one formed up into fireteams in front of their squad leader. Major Tsunade Senju looked over what remained of her platoon and nodded, her own armor on and her helmet under her right arm.

"Alright boys and girls gather around. I have our targets. Fire team seven, your going after the placement marked as delta. It's near the old collage sector located right smack dab in the middle of the sports stadium. That unfortunately means that they will be able to defend it easier." She looked to the silver haired team leader, Staff Sergeant Kakashi Hatake. The man's red prostectic eye seemed to be glowing with pent up anger, but being ever the professional, he nodded and kept his lazy appearance.

"Understood. Well, should be fun." He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Behind him, his team rolled their eyes as they hefted their weapons onto the magnetic strips on their back. Tsunade continued.

"Team Eight, your target is in the residential sector. Keep your heads on a swivel as there will be plenty of places for ambushes. You may end up running right into hostiles so be ready." Team eight nodded in acceptance, their Sergeant, Kurinai Yuhi glancing at them before returning her gaze to the holo display. "Team Ten, Target Alpha is yours. It's closer to the out skirts so there should be a minimal amount of hostiles, but all the same, be ready for heavy contact."

"Yes ma'am." Sergeant Asuma Sarutobi replied, taking a hit from his electronic smoke.

Tsunade frowned as she spotted this but said nothing. Despite her views on smoking, she knew that this was how he kept himself calm. She herself tended to drink herself sober after missions like the one they were going on.

"Team nine...you will have the heaviest amount of CQB. The last target is in the industrial section. Enemy disposition is expected to be twice what Team Seven will be facing. Oto is using that section for repairs and construction of new armor units so they'll want to hold it. We can't let that armor roll so you, unlike the others, have a secondary objective to cripple the Armor column and take out the bridge leading into the residential sector." Tsunade paused and looked at her assembled Marines. "We got the easiest job. After we take out the batteries, we are meeting up with the ninth armored at the Kizingo Space port to clear it out and get the FOB up and running. After that, we get to take a break. Any questions?"

"Any intel on who the enemy commander is?" Corporal Naruto Uzumake asked, his blue eyes taking on a more dangerous glint.

Tsunade smirked and nodded before a face appeared on the screen that they all recognized. The onyx colored eyes of their former comrade seemed to glare at them. They all recognized the face of Sasuke Uchiha, the traitor who had caused the deaths of many of their Kilo Platoon memebers. In fact, he was the main reason they were only twelve strong. Naruto glared at the image before nodding. Tsunade closed the display and placed her helmet on, the face guard closing over her face. Fully inclosed, the jet black visor swept over all of them as they too sealed armor.

"Alright Kilo. We drop in fifteen. The Will of Fire will skim atmo just deep enough to reach the Mesosphere. From their, it's an eighty kilometer extreme altitude drop. So check weapons, grab ammo, and get your asses to the drop bay. Let's go free our people!"

A loud chorus of ORAH! Rang out through the bay as they headed to the bays. Team Seven seemed more focused then most, but with good reason. Sasuke Uchiha had been a member of their team before defecting during a major firefight that had caused their team leader to lose his left eye in CQB when they had been forced to go hand to hand with a particularly viscious Oto squad. Naruto checked over his M36 HBAR, making sure that all 45 rounds of the 7.62 armor pericing high explosive rounds were loaded and underslung M40 grenade launcher was ready. Beside him, Lance Corporal Sakure Haruno checked over her own HIBAR and her MP55 submachine gun before strapping the 55 to her thigh. The final member, Staff Sergeant Hatake placed his M820 Sparrow on his back. Naruto had seen what the .50 AP slugs could do. Naruto had always wondered why Hatake need such a potent sniper rifle, but he couldn't deny he was good with it. It was rumored the man had over one thousand confirmed kills to his name. His secondary weapon was a MP55 and he also carried a supply of C-4, doubling as the demolitions expert.

"You two ready?" He asked as they entered the bay and moved to the ready line near the massive bay doors.

They nodded and looked towards the doors. Neither of them liked doing EALO drops as there was always a chance something could go wrong and they'd splat into the dirt like a bug on a windshield. But it was their only option for insertion as dropships would be gunned down by intense triple a that was a given. In fact, they be pleasantly surprised if there was none. Beside them, the rest of the squad took position as the red light began blinking, telling them to get ready to jump. The primary lights went off, bathing the bay in the flashing red light that went solid. They all tensed and prepared themselves in anyway possible. Lance Corporal Hinata Hyuuga glanced toward Naruto, her cheeks reddening slightly. Ever since she'd been assigned to Kilo platoon, she'd had a crush on the rather rougish NCO that seemed to always have a joke to tell or kind words of encouragement to them. But sadly, she could not act upon those feelings due to regulations. She swore to herself that once she picked up Corporal, she'd try to talk to him about it and if she was lucky, he'd return those feelings. But right now, the last thing on any of their minds was romance as they had a mission to accomplish. Tsunade opened the platoon com as the bay doors opened.

"Get ready to jump in five!" She ordered as the hull began to heat up from atmospheric friction.

Five seconds late light switched from red to green. Naruto barely heard the screams of "Go!" as he launched himself from the open bay, his arms held tightly to his sides as he dove head first towards the planet. Risking a glance, he spotted the rest of the platoon falling beside him. He allowed himself a small grin. Kakashi was right. This would be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

The sky lit up with tracers and flak from the ground based triple. Kilo Platoon kept their sights on the ground as it rushed up to meet them. Nartuto checked his altimeter that the suits firmware display over his standard hud. 1000 ft left. He tried to stay calm and waited patiently for the chute to open. He wasn't disappointed as he felt the drogue deploy, slowing his rate of fall to a safer velocity before his suits boosters engaged, slowing his decent even more before his armored boots made contact with the dirt. Training took over as he rolled up into the kneeling position, M36 aimed forward and scanning for any threats. The on board sensors registered no hostile contacts in the ruined city block they had landed in. A quick check showed that his team was three hundred meters to his north west. Naruto rose to his feet and moved forward, keeping his pace slow and his corners clear. His suit may say no contacts but that didn't mean they weren't being blocked. The first rule any Marine is taught is that the Mark One eyeball always will be more accurate than any sensor. Naruto leaned around a corner and narrowed his eyes in anger. Bodies...most civilians littered the street. Men, women, and children mixed in with local police and a few Army soldiers that had attempted to defend them. Naruto swore that he'd make Oto pay as he rushed to his next cover, a low chest level concrete wall ringing the bombed out library that still had dark smoke rising from it. The night sky seemed to be ablaze with fire as the SF-120 Pheonix fighters tore into the Oto fighters and took what shots they could at the enemy positions while attempting to dodge the deadly accurate anti aircraft fire. As he watched, one Pheonix was unlucky and was speared by a missile into it's mid section, turning the three ton fighter into a flaming ball of wreckage that smashed into what Naruto hoped was an abandoned six story apartment building some eight blocks to his south east.

Naruto briefly closed his eyes in respect for the pilot and kept on toward his squad, opening the team com channel as he closed to with in one hundred meters of his team.

"Copy Cat, this is Fox. I'm closing on your position from you eight. Try not to shoot me."

Kakashi chuckled over the com.

"No promises Fox. You do tend to make a tempting target."

"Oh ha ha cyclops." Naruto muttered as he leapt a six foot fence in one bound, his power armor making it possible with the enhanced strength and power servos.

Not more than three seconds later, he slid into position beside his team. Kakashi gave him a short nod before sighting in on the stadium in the distance. Naruto popped his head up just long enough to see the Hayden University Sports Dome lite up in all it's glory. He could just see the tip of the Anti Orbital battery as it glowed a bright blue before a beam as wide as a bus shoot into the sky. Naruto didn't want to think about where it was going and hoped what ever ship was being targeted managed to evade the shot. He grimaced as he also spotted what looked like two platoons worth of Oto shock troops roaming the perimeter of the station and Naruto would bet even money there were at least six times that number beyond his own optics gear. Kakashi lowered himself back down below the wall and sighed.

"Well this won't be easy. Gather round." He ordered.

Team seven moved closer as Kakashi made a crude map in the dirt in front of them that was just visible thanks to the flashes of fire from the AA guns.

"Two platoons between us and the back entrance along with what looks like six MG nests. Probably .50 guns, maybe 30 mike mikes. Hard to tell from here." He explained, pointing to the area slightly before the doors in his drawing. "Enemy snipers are posted throughout the outer catwalks, roughly a dozen mixed in with a few packing anti armor rockets. So those are going to be trouble."

"UCAVs?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded.

"UCAVs. Best way to level the playing field. I've already requested a strike from the Lighting Strike. ToT is in five mikes. Once they hit, we haul ass to stadium and get inside. Once in, get ready for heavy fire as we'll have to fight inch by inch to the battery." He paused and looked at the two of them, his black visor not showing the grim look that settled onto his face. "Ready?"

Both nodded and ready themselves. Naruto switched his M36 to burst mode, his HUD reflecting the change. Beside him, Sakura gripped her M55 tightly with the collapsible stock fully extended and locked into her shoulder. Naruto never really liked the M55 too much. The M55 was a throw back in design to the FN P90 in design in that the magazine in located on top of the weapon as opposed to the more standard bullpup design of most weapons. Using the tried and true straight blowback operation, capable of spewing out nine hundred rounds of 6.2x30mm rounds at supersonic speeds that could punch through most low grade armor...which Oto tended to use. Naruto's only complaint about it, was that at full auto, the weapon tended to be highly inaccurate. But to each their own he supposed. Naruto gripped his weapon tightly as he gathered his wits as the timer on his HUD clicked down to zero. On cue sixteen Tornado UCAVs hurtled overhead at mach six, their composite airframes still redden from their atmospheric entry. The sixteen drones split into four groups and began firing missiles and cannons at the Oto troops that were just responding to the sonic boom from the attack craft.

"Now!" Kakashi roared, vaulting over the wall.

Naruto and Sakura followed Kakashi over the wall and hit the ground running, weapons raised. It was a kilometer long run, but the three Marines cleared the distance in twenty seconds. A Tornado, spewing smoke, slammed into a squad of Oto Marines. Naruto ignored the cries of the men as they died horrible, slow deaths from as the fuel cells went up, dosing them in burning fuel. Naruto didn't feel any sympathy for them nor did he give them a mercy kill. To hell with it. Let the bastards burn. His attention was more focused on the Oto bastard that popped up from cover and fired a burst at them. Naruto spun around to avoid the rounds before taking aim and putting a burst into the chest of the idiot that tried to shoot him. He didn't watch as the rounds tore into the young man's chest, splaying it open as the thin armor failed to stop the AP-HE rounds from tearing into his flesh. Naruto kept his focus on each target, firing controlled bursts into each of them as Team seven reached the entrance to the stadium.

"Stack up! Frag and clear!" Kakashi ordered, preparing one of his five M95 high explosive frag grenades.

Naruto let his rifle hang on the three point sling and grabbed one of his own frags and flicked the safety off and prepared to pull the pin. Kakashi nodded and mule kicked the door open and both he and Naruto pulled the pins and tossed the frags through the door. The startled cries of the Oto troops just inside the doors were cut off by twin booms and the sound of shrapnel pinging off the walls. Naruto's visor polarized briefly to filter out the flash from the explosions. Without a single word, the three of them rushed into the room and raised their weapons. The room was packed, or it used to be. Twenty-three Oto troops were either dead or bleeding out. Most looked like they were in their teens while the rest looked middle aged. If the gory sight bothered them, they didn't allow it to show. Kakashi pulled up a holo map and a section highlighted showing their current location.

"Alright. We need to go down a level and move through the locker rooms. From there, it's a short run to the power plant that Oto set up in the maintenance level."

"What's our target Staff Sergeant?" Sakura asked.

"Primary coolant tanks. Hit those, the gun over heats and explodes." He smiled as he closed the holomap. "We just don't want to be around when it does, otherwise the blsst will incinerate us as well."

"You need to work on your humor." Sakura muttered with Naruto nodding in agreement.

The Three Marines headed off to their objectives. They met heavy pockets of resistance deeper and deeper into the stadium. Something was off though, and Naruto couldn't put his finger on it. It wasn't the amount of hostiles, in fact, there more than he had expected. He checked his on board ammo counter and noted he was down to two mags left for his HBAR with no M80 rounds left. His sidearm had one mag for it and no grenades.

"Getting low! How much further?"

Before anyone could answer, the hostiles disengaged and fell back, leaving the Marines to wonder just what had happened. Kakashi lowered his rifle to the Alert stance as he seemed to be just as confused as the others.

"Well...that's interesting."

"Why would they turn tail and run Normally they tend to fight to the last." Sakura commented, still scanning for any targets.

Naruto felt in his gut that something was about to happen that he wouldn't like.

"Ah...isn't this just a happy reunion." A very familiar, and a very hated voice sounded from the catwalk above them.

Naruto snarled as he and his team spun to see who it was, though they all knew who it was from the arrogant tone. Onyx eyes glared down at them. Naruto was tempted to just squeeze the trigger before Kakashi placed a hand on the barrel of his rifle and forced it down.

"Easy Naruto. We don't have time to deal with him." Kakashi stated with an even voice, though Naruto knew that Kakashi himself was tempted to put a round in the bastard.

Sasuke smirked at the three of them. Naruto thought he was pretty arrogant to be standing before three armed Marines with out his helmet on his head.

"Come now Staff Sergeant. Is that anyway to speak about your second in command?"

"A little piss ant like you ain't worth the dirt on my boots." Kakashi growled.

"Just let me shoot him Staff Sergeant. I'll promise to leave enough of his face to be identified." Sakura aimed her M55 at Sasuke.

The traitor glared at Sakura.

"Little bitch. Is that anyway to speak to your Sergeant?!" He demanded.

"You stopped being a Sergeant of Marines the day you sold us out to Oto in the beginning of the War!" Naruto snarled, weapon still forced toward the ground by Kakashi.

"As if anything you say will phase me. You are a failure as a Corporal and as a Marine. Just like your father." Sasuke sneered.

Naruto grabbed at his sidearm only to stop short by Kakashi raising his own rifle at Sasuke. Naruto could feel the hate rolling off of Kakashi.

"Naruto is a far better Marine then you ever were. And General Namikaze was the finest Marine I have ever had the honor of serving with. Sasuke Uchiha, you will throw down your weapons and surrender. If you don't, we will be required to use lethal force." Kakashi gave a predatory grin behind his visor. "Please, give us a reason to shoot."

A dark smile appeared upon Sasuke's face as his hand went to his right shoulder, pulling out a katana and settling into a combat stance.

"Very well. I shall grant you your wish."

Naruto snapped his weapon up and fired at the Uchiha that was dropping down upon them, sword raised like a bird of prey diving down to kill it's prey.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto rolled away as the deadly blade slashed down toward him. Naruto spun around and immediately dodged to his right as the blade slashed horizontally at his neck. Sasuke snarled as he moved forward, his armor dented from the burst Naruto had gotten off before he was forced to dodge or be sliced in two. Kaskashi and Sakura had already snapped up their weapons and opened fired. Sasuke rolled under the rounds and caught Sakura with a palm stirke to the chest, knocking the wind from her and denting her chest armor as she slid back a few feet. Sakura looked up, and knew she wouldn't dodge in time as Sasuke spun his katana toward her face. She saw her life flash before her eyes and her only regret was that she'd failed her team. But before the blade connected, Kakashi had moved close and kicked Sasuke in the side of the head with a spinning jump kick that sent Sasuke sliding across the floor into the wall. Sakura nodded at Kakashi in thanks that the Staff Sergeant gave a thumb up in response as Naruto moved in and attempted to smash Sasuke's face in with a rifle butt, the enhanced strength granted by their armor would have indeed made such a feat possible. The attempt was slightly successful as Naruto was able to smah his rifle into Sasuke's armored forearm as he did manage to partially block the attack before Naruto kicked Sasuke in the chest, sending him skidding across the floor once more. The blonde Marine didn't even pause and rushed toward the traitor.

"You two go for the gun! I got this little shit!" Naruto snarled as Sasuke rose and rushed at the incoming Marine.

Kakashi paused for a fraction of a second before he nodded and headed for the door, Sakura fast on his heels.

"Do you think he can win Staff Sergeant?" She asked as Kakashi smashed his shoulder into the doors, sending them flying into the wall.

"Yes I do. But we're going to need some help." He muttered as he opened up the command channel.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"That was immensely satisfying." Sergeant Neji Hyuuga muttered as team nine watched the rows of tanks, APCs, and other vehicles exploding in small orange balls of fire and smoke, lighting up the early dawn sky.

Behind him, Corporal Rock Lee smirked in agreement as he placed the detonator back into his storage pouch. Staff Sergeant Might Guy scanned over the enemy compound once more before nodding in satisfaction. He and his team had successfully destroyed their targets and the bridge into the residential section, cutting off the Oto forces from any and all armor support. Their third member, who only went by Ten, checked over her XSR-52 anti material rifle. The rules of war state that such a rifle can only be used on material targets. Hence why Ten only targeted enemy equipment, like rifles or canteens. It was just a sheer coincidence that said equipment happened to be on the Oto troops bodies. At least, that's what she'd tell her superiors once the clean up was done...if they even asked. Whatever musings they had were cut off when Guy finished his discussion over the command channel with command and turned to them.

"Alright team, get ready to move. Team Seven ran into heavy opposition in the form of Sasuke Uchiha and Command is ordering us to move in as support with Team Eight as back up."

Behind his armored visor, Neji was glaring. He'd lost his father the day Uchiha had turned on them and he'd repay the Uchiha ten fold. The rest of the team had also lost friends and family to the traitors actions and gripped their weapons tightly, each wanting him dead.

"What are we standing around for then?" Rock Lee asked, racking the pump on his MAS-16 shotgun, ejecting a spent shell from the weapons internal magizine.

Guy smirked and shouldered his M-36.

"Let's move."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Major Namikaze scowled as he looked over the wreck of the ANS _Unstoppable_. The once proud destroyer was now a gutted fish as gasses and smoke poured from the multiple holes through it's superstructure. All because of one stupid decision by it's now deceased CO. Behind him, he sensed Admiral Foster scowling at the wreck as well.

"Micheals was an idiot."

Jiraiya snorted in amusement.

"He's stupidity has cost us the lives of three hundred sailors, soldiers, and Marines. If the Oto batteries hadn't vaporized him along with the bridge, I'd kill him myself. Just what the hell was he thinking dropping into Atmo that low?" Foster wondered as he glared at the wreck.

"That he'd drop his forces ahead of scheduale and look like a hero by providing high altitude fire support while placing himself at great risk." Jiraiya shook his head as he tore his gaze away and onto the data pad in front of him. "Arrogant Ass was hoping for a medal and a promotion."

Foster said nothing, and simply turned his gaze to the black expanse of stars before him. After several seconds of silence, he spoke again.

"You think we can win this Major?"

Jiraiya looked over to the man roughly his own age and nodded. Foster was a good man. He'd been something of a mentor for Jiraiya's son when Minato had been Navy before he transferred to the Marines. When Jiraiya had lost his son to the Oto Empire's sneak attack on Far Eye Six, Jiraiya had been reactivated as an Active Major in the Alliance Army. Within six months of the War, he'd lead sixteen succeful ground campaigns against the Oto Empire, culminating in the retaking of three star systems for the Alliance. And now, his grandson was groundside, running around with Hatake and raising seven different kinds of hell on the enemy. Foster's question, however, was a fairly good one. In the opening of the War, Oto forces were nothing more than a bunch of fools with guns, using massed attacks to overrun and decimate the Alliance in both space and ground combat. But as the War has progressed, their tech and tactics had taken a huge jump, making those tactics all the more deadly. But what concerned Jiraiya was how similar their tactics were getting to the Alliance. Their ships were becoming more durable and the ground forces better trained making massed attacks less frequent. The last Naval battle near Sigma Six had been almost symmetrical in fleet size and type. But Jiraitya felt that they would win in the end.

"We can beat them Admiral. Besides," A small smile tugged at his haggard face. "I doubt my grandson will stop until he kills every last Oto out there."

Foster chuckled in dry amusement.

"Yes. He certianly lives up to his nickname. The Demon Fox." He shook his head. "I still don't get why that name."

"You can blame Oto for that one. He picked up the name after an Oto troop compared his pure destruction on the battlefield at Altier three to the destruction caused in the ancient stories by a nine tailed fox demon. Legend has it that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was a being of pure power. One swipe of it's tails could level mountains and create tsunamis. The ultimate destroyer." Jiraiya mused.

"Well, he did level a mountain with that fifty megaton nuke not long ago but I have yet to see him create a tsunami." Foster joked.

"Give him time." Jiraiya smirked.

Before either man could reply, a sudden beeping caught their ears. A young blonde Lieutenant gave a startled look before speaking up.

"Sir! Oto fleet has entered the system!" She tapped a few more keys and the enemy fleet formation appeared on the Tac screen.

Jiraiya scanned the display, forwning as he did.

"Fifty-two ships. Thats a good sized chunk of ships Oto is sending our way." He muttered.

Foster smoothly went into action as he spun around and dropped into his chair at the back of the bridge. The atmosphere became very tense at his next orders.

"General Quarters. Bring weapons and defense shields online. Bring us to course 302, six degree positive inclination." He calmly leaned back, hands folded infront of him.

The XO grabbed the handset near her own station as the bridge burst into movement as alarms began wailing, the XO's voice sounding through out the massive ship.

"General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands to battlestations!"

"Weapons online. Hardlock on incoming hostiles. We'll be in range in seventy three seconds. Shields are online."

"Damage Control teams are standing by."

"Coming about to course 302, positive six inclination confirmed. Accelerating to full military thrust."

The XO reported to the Admiral who nodded while Jiraya gritted his teeth. He hated space combat simply because he couldn't do anything in a fight. He only hoped that the forces on the were having an easier time then what they would be.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto grunted as Sasuke smashed into him in a full tackle, knocking both to the ground. The blonde Marine quickly rolled away and poped back up and launching himself at the Uchiha. Naruto ducked under the right hook and spun around and planted his own armored fist into Sasuke's face. A satisfying crunch was heard before the Uchiha stumbled back, cursing bitterly. Naruto smriked evilly at him.

"Semper Fi, mother fucker." Naruto hissed as he moved toward Sasuke once more.

Sasuke blocked several blows from Naruto, fully defensive, when Naruto grabbed him by the wrist. Using the full abilities of the armor, Naruto literally swung Sasuke around like a baseball bat, smashing him into pillars and walls, before sending him flying through a set of steel double doors into a utility room of some sort.

"That means faithful to the Corps!" Naruto snarled, rushing at Sasuke with pure rage.

Naruto had failed to notice that the rogue Marine managed to retrieve his sword. Naruto saw a flash of steel but it was too late to dodge. His lucky break was that he was too close for Sasuke to hit anything truly vital, but a katana going through your abdomen and out your back was still a bad thing. Naruto felt the pain but didn't let him phase him as a second after Sasuke's blade jammed into him, his Kabar found itself pulled from it's scabbard on his shoulder and jammed into Sasuke's throat. The look of triumph turned to one of horror as the Ex-Alliance Marine stumbled back, gasping as he grasped at the knife. Naruto dropped to his knees, the pain killers his armor injected into his blood stream taking the edge off the pain, but not fully removing it. With a sudden surge of strength, Naruto yanked the blade out of his body. Panting with exertion, he looked up and felt a sudden surge of horror pass through his mind. Sasuke had yanked the blade out of his throat. But that's not what freaked Naruto out. As he watched, the wound began to close at a fightening pace. After several seconds, the wound was closed completely and Sasuke was once again smirking at the blonde.

"What the hell are you?" His voice sounded like a whisper.

Before the traitor could answer, a loud explosion followed by a battle cry of "Dynamic Entry!" caught their attention, and Team Nine came rushing in the new entrance blown into a solid concrete wall with Team Eight right on their heels. All eight Marines trained their rifles on Sasuke who moved with an unnatural speed, evading their shots until he managed to escape. Naruto stumbled to a nearby pillar and leaned against it as he fumbled with his first aid kit until a gauntleted hand grabbed his. Naruto looked over and saw a Team Eight Marine, one with a midnight blue colored Panther on the chest plate.

"Let me help you out Corporal." A soft female voice responded to his unasked question.

Naruto nodded and let Lance Corporal Hyuuga lower him to the ground in a sitting posture while she pulled out several items from her medical pack she carried as Team Eight's Medic.

"This is going to sting a little." She warned as she prepared to clean and dress the sword wound.

Naruto steeled himself as she sprayed the antiseptic in both entry and exit point before she sealed the holes with a liquid gel agent that was more like a super strength glue. It also served to numb the area which he was fine with. After a few seconds, she popped the torso sections off and slapped a medical patch on that would serve to keep the wound clear and help the glue hold it together until he would be able to get to a hospital. He sighed in relief as he redonned his armor, though his abdomen still felt sore.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." She responded as she closed up her pack and helped him up.

Just at that moment, the rest of Team Seven backed into the store room that Naruto and Sasuke had ended up in during their fight, weapons blazing. Kakashi glanced at them before firing a burst through the door way.

"Oh just stand there then. Don't let our fire fight distract you guys." He joked as a death scream sounded from the hall.

Naruto accepted his rifle from Rock Lee and they all joined Team Seven at the door way, weapons blazing. Spent shell casing dropped to the deck as the Oto troops surged forward. After several seconds of pure action, the Oto forces disengaged as quickly as they had appeared. This was a cause for concern.

"Since when do they just stop and run?" Sakura asked as she reloaded her weapon.

Naruto felt as if ice flooded his veins at the high pitched sound of the AOG as it's power cell began to overload. He quickly turned to Kakashi.

"Did you set the gun to blow?"

A sudden epiphany crossed everyone's mind as Kakashi uttered what they all were thinking.

"Shit...RUN!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

The _Dauntless_ shuddered from another volley that struck her port shields. Foster frowned as he checked the screen, seeing that they were at thirty percent.

"_Bum Rush_ is down as are the _Morning Glory, General Patton, _and the _Leaf on the Wind_._"_

Foster frowned. They were doing a decent job against the hostile fleet. While yes, they were outnumbered, losing four ships was a fair exchange against twenty three destroyed enemy vessels. But something wasn't right. He got his answer when the alert board lit up like a christmas tree.

"Contacts! Three hundred and fifty six enemy ships have just entered the system! Remaining enemy ships are falling back to join formation with the new arrivals."

"Damn." Foster muttered. "Have all ships fall back to orbit. Flash message ground forces to disengage and return to fleet." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "They win this round."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto and his fellow Marines moved as quickly as they could to their evac point The explosion of the gun had injured them all. Most were minor broken bones and a few burns. Naruto had gotten the brunt of the injuries when a chuck of metal had smacked him in the head. Probably a concussion, but at least he didn't break his head. On his left, helping him, was Hinata. Naruto glanced behind them and saw pure chaos. Oto Troops were massing for an all out attack. Checking his surroundings, he spotted several mounted gun placements and an idea formed in his head.

"Hold up." he called.

They all came to a stop by the emplacements and turned to Naruto. He didn't delay.

"They know where we are and where we are going." He paused and looked at the guns.

They were beauties. Twin rotary .30 guns loaded with armor piercing rounds, capable of spewing one thousand rounds a minute thanks to metal storm tech. Kakashi caught onto Naruto's plan.

"We need a distraction."

Naruto nodded.

"This is a good spot. One person mans the guns here and holds Oto at bay." He explained.

"That's a suicide mission." Neji spoke up.

All of them were silent before Naruto spoke.

"I'll do it. I'm the heaviest wounded. I'll slow you guys down too much. Even with a distraction."

Shock rippled through them as Naruto limped to the gun. He looked back and sent a small smile.

"Go. I'll cover you."

Kakashi wanted to argue, but the sound of gun fire reached his ears as the Oto troops began taking shots at them. With out another word, he nodded to the blonde.

"Let's go!" He ordered.

Naruto didn't even look back as he got behind the gun and sighted on the incoming hostiles. He mashed the firing studs and the first rounds sped off toward the targets.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Jiraiya watched as the last Evac bird landed on the ship. He knew that kilo was on that flight, but he had a bad feeling in his gut something bad was going to happen. And it did when he reached craft and saw half of Kilo being helped onto gurneys with with two of the remaining members being pulled aside and checked over by the medics in the bay.

"I may be getting up there in the years but you guys are two members short."

The look on Kakashi's face told him all that he needed to know about who one of the two were that stayed behind. He felt fear well up inside of him as his hands shook.

"He stayed didn't he?"

The voice was quiet and subduded and full of worry. Kakashi gave a sad nod of his head.

"We wouldn't have made it off planet. Oto knew where our ez was and had a battalion sized element rush us. He made the decision to buy us time to get to the bird and off planet." Kakashi suddendly remembered what Jiraiya had said about two. "Wait...who else is missing?"

A sudden scream of shock and anger echoed from across the bay.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto knew his platoon was safe. He'd watched the dropship send a few missiles into the Oto forces trying to rush his position. He would then go out whooping a solid amount of ass before these bastards got him. What he didn't expect was for a Marine to appear next to him, firing into the now company sized element on semi auto. His armor HUD taggged the Marine, but Naruto already knew who it was.

"I gave you a direct order Lance Corporal!"

"The squads safe and headed home. I'm just trying to make sure you don't get your ass killed playing hero Corporal!" Hinata responded, catching an Oto Troop in the face plate.

Naruto growled in frustration but concentrated on shooting the hostiles. One Oto popped up and fired and Naruto felt a sudden white hot pain in his shoulder. A quick glance confirmed he'd been shot.

"Mother fucker!" he screamed, sending a stream of rounds downrange, making the Oto turn into a cloud of mist.

Hinata's next target looked to be doing the machine gun cha-cha as she switched to fully auto and sent a sustained burst into one stupid enough to stand straight up on a battlefield. The guns went silent as the final burst impacted into the dirt near another enemy position...one that now had a mortar emplacement! Naruto saw the puff of smoke from the forty milimeter high explosive being launched.

"Shit...INCOMING!" Naruto yelled, grabbing a startled Hinata by the back of her armor and pulling both of them over the clif face towards the water.

His last concious sight was of dawn breaking before the impact induced darkness took him. The sun had finally risen over the ruined colony, ending the long and bloody night. But the Battle for Hayden was far from over.


End file.
